Srinagar, Oct 10: Advisor to Governor, K Vijay Kumar today stressed upon the officers to effectively work for strengthening and improving the functioning of the Forest department and its allied wings. He said there is a need to take collective efforts in protecting and preserving the forests and wildlife across the State.The Advisor said this during an interaction programme with the senior officers of the Forest department and its allied wings during his visit to the Dachigam National Wildlife Park, here today.Commissioner Secretary Forests, M K Dwivedi, Principal Chief Conservator Forests Suresh Chugh, Chairman Police Control Board Ravi Kesar, Additional PCF S K Gupta, Sarvesh Rai, Conservator of Forests and other officers were present on the occasion.While interacting with the officers, the Advisor discussed in detail various important issues that need immediate attention for improve the functioning of the department.The Advisor discussed the issues department wise and sought the suggestions/inputs from the officers for further improving the functioning of Forest department.Threadbare discussion was help on the issues including status of digitization of forest records, promotion of eco-tourism, restructuring of Forest Corporation, initiatives with regard to protection of wildlife in the state, increasing forest cover, encroachment of forest land, status of court cases, steps to remove stagnation, clearance of DPC cases, service related issues and others.K Vijay Kumar stressed on improving the delivery mechanism in the department through innovative initiatives and asked the concerned officers to conduct frequent field visits to take stock of the functioning of the subordinate units and to strengthen the department at various levels.On the occasion, the Advisor also awarded the field functionaries of Wildlife Protection Department for their outstanding service by giving away medals and certificate to them.